Grimoire of the Lamb: An Iron Druid Chronicles Novella

When he’s not vanquishing villainous gods or dodging demons, 2,000-year-old Druid Atticus O’Sullivan can be found behind the counter of Third Eye Books and Herbs in modern-day Tempe, Arizona, literally minding his own business. But when an evil sorcerer - and amateur shoplifter - snatches an ancient Egyptian tome of black magic, The Grimoire of the Lamb, Atticus is not sheepish about pursuing him to the ends of the earth...or at least to the Land of the Pharaohs.

The Purloined Poodle

Thanks to his relationship with the ancient Druid Atticus O'Sullivan, Oberon the Irish wolfhound knows trouble when he smells it - and furthermore, he knows he can handle it. When he discovers that a prizewinning poodle has been abducted in Eugene, Oregon, he learns that it's part of a rash of hound abductions all over the Pacific Northwest. Since the police aren't too worried about dogs they assume have run away, Oberon knows it's up to him to track down those hounds and reunite them with their humans. For justice! And gravy!

Fated: Alex Verus Series, Book 1

Alex Verus is part of a world hidden in plain sight, running a magic shop in London. And while Alex's own powers aren't as showy as some mages, he does have the advantage of foreseeing the possible future-allowing him to pull off operations that have a million-to-one-chance of success. But when Alex is approached by multiple factions to crack open a relic from a long-ago mage war, he knows that whatever's inside must be beyond powerful.

Come one, come all! The Carniepunk Midway promises you every thrill and chill a traveling carnival can provide. But fear not! Urban fantasy's biggest stars are here to guide you through this strange and dangerous world....

In this dark and gritty collection - featuring short stories from Jim Butcher, Seanan McGuire, Kevin J. Anderson, and Rob Thurman - nothing is as simple as black and white, light and dark, good and evil.... Unfortunately, that's exactly what makes it so easy to cross the line.

God Touched: The Demon Accords, Book 1

Chris Gordon is a rookie with the NYPD - one with a secret. In his spare time Chris is an exorcist without equal, with a gift from God. But when he saves a beatiful girl from a demonic attack, he discovers there is more to fear than just demons. Finding himself surrounded by vampires and were-weasels and facing a giant short-faced bear, Chris struggles to stay alive, all while protecting his deadly new girlfriend. And then there's her overprotective vampire mother!

Curse on the Land: Soulwood, Book 2

Before Nell Ingram met skinwalker Jane Yellowrock, she had no one to rely on, finding strength only in her arcane connection to the dark woods around her. But now she has friends in the newly formed PsyLED team to keep her grounded - even if being part of the agency responsible for policing paranormals comes with dangers of its own.

Nice Dragons Finish Last: Heartstrikers, Book 1

Audie Award, Fantasy, 2016. As the smallest dragon in the Heartstriker clan, Julius survives by a simple code: keep quiet, don't cause trouble, and stay out of the way of bigger dragons. But this meek behavior doesn't fly in a family of ambitious magical predators, and his mother, Bethesda the Heartstriker, has finally reached the end of her patience.

No Good Dragon Goes Unpunished: Heartstrikers, Book 3

When Julius overthrew his mother and took control of his clan, he thought he was doing right by everyone. But sharing power isn't part of any proper dragon's vocabulary, and with one seat still open on the new ruling council, all of Heartstriker is ready to do whatever it takes to get their claws on it, including killing the Nice Dragon who got them into this mess in the first place.

Magic Binds: Kate Daniels, Book 9

Mercenary Kate Daniels knows all too well that magic in post-Shift Atlanta is a dangerous business. But nothing she's faced could have prepared her for this.... Kate and the former Beast Lord Curran Lennart are finally making their relationship official. But there are some steep obstacles standing in the way of their walk to the altar.... Kate's father, Roland, has kidnapped the demigod Saiman and is slowly bleeding him dry in his never-ending bid for power.

Dead Ground: Harbinger P.I., Book 4

When my old friend Jim Walker asks me to fly up to Canada and take a look at a strange murder case, it sounds like a good excuse for barbecue and brewskis. But the party gets crashed by a pit-load of demons and things take a turn for the worse. Throw a faerie queen and a couple of ancient vampires into the mix and you've got a recipe for disaster.

Rogues

Demon Accords number 10. When a hunter is brutally mauled in northern Maine, it's presumed that a black bear is the killer. But an astute local deputy suspects a more supernatural element. His call for assistance is answered by the supernatural community sending one of their very best. If it takes a thief to catch a thief, who do you use to catch a werewolf? But nothing is ever simple in the preternatural world. There's more here than meets the eye... nose... ear... or fang.

Storm Front: The Dresden Files, Book 1

A call from a distraught wife, and another from Lt Murphy of the Chicago PD Special Investigation Unit makes Harry believe things are looking up, but they are about to get worse, much worse. Someone is harnessing immense supernatural forces to commit a series of grisly murders. Someone has violated the first law of magic: Thou Shalt Not Kill. Tracking that someone takes Harry into the dangerous underbelly of Chicago, from mobsters.

Monster Hunter Memoirs: Grunge

When marine private Oliver Chadwick Gardenier is killed in the marine barrack bombing in Beirut, somebody who might be Saint Peter gives him a choice: Go to heaven, which, while nice, might be a little boring, or return to earth. The Boss has a mission for him, and he's to look for a sign. He's a marine: He'll choose the mission. Unfortunately, the sign he's to look for is "57". Which, given the food services contract in Bethesda Hospital, creates some difficulty. Eventually it appears that God's will is for Chad to join a group called Monster Hunters International.

Blood of the Earth: Soulwood, Book 1

When Nell Ingram met skinwalker Jane Yellowrock, she was almost alone in the world, exiled by both choice and fear from the cult she was raised in, defending herself with the magic she drew from her deep connection to the forest that surrounds her. Now, Jane has referred Nell to PsyLED, a Homeland Security agency policing paranormals, and agent Rick LaFleur has shown up at Nell's doorstep.

Heaven Sent: Quincy Harker Demon Hunter, Book 5

Quincy Harker is walking on the side of the angels this time. Or at least beside an angel. It's the summer of 2009, and Harker, the immortal magic-wielding nephew of Dracula, has a brand-new guardian angel. Her name is Glory, and she's there to try to keep Harker from getting himself killed. Try is the operative word.

Monster Hunter Memoirs: Sinners

With New Orleans out of control, Chad Oliver Gardenier, one of Monster Hunter International's premier hunters, has been dispatched from Seattle to reinforce the beleaguered members of MHI'S Hoodoo Squad in their fight against the darkness.

Skinwalker: Jane Yellowrock, Book 1

Jane Yellowrock is the last of her kind-a skinwalker of Cherokee descent who can turn into any creature she desires and hunts vampires for a living. But now she's been hired by Katherine Fontaneau, one of the oldest vampires in New Orleans and the madam of Katie's Ladies, to hunt a powerful rogue vampire who's killing other vamps.

Publisher's Summary

Atticus O’Sullivan is back in an all-new, action-packed, laugh-out-loud novella from the author of The Iron Druid Chronicles.

Two-thousand-year-old Atticus may have outwitted and outfought everyone from Odin to Bacchus, but in this eBook original, he’s about to discover what comes around when you go around messing with gods.

Six years into the training of his beautiful apprentice, Granuaile, a large crow swoops down and transforms into none other than the Morrigan, a goddess who insists that Atticus come with her at once. He must leave his apprentice behind, along with his Irish wolfhound, Oberon - and he must also leave his sword. The Morrigan has always taken extreme pleasure in pronouncing the Druid’s mortal danger and imminent doom, so the fact that she won’t reveal the purpose of their journey makes him very nervous. Of course, any time the Celtic Chooser of the Slain drops in unannounced, it’s never good. When she does let slip that she’ll be saving his life in the near future, Atticus is left to wonder...will he soon be giving his legions of enemies something to crow about?

Includes a preview of Kevin Hearne’s highly anticipated new novel in The Iron Druid Chronicles, Trapped!

We get a little follow up from what happens in book three. However, 16 minutes of this is yet another preview of chapter 1 for book 5. Maybe if you are a true Kevin Hearne fan like I am this is worth the 10 dollars. There may be some crucial information in this book to future story lines if Hearne decides not to recap. So, if you decide not to check this one out I will include below what basically happens.

(SPOILER) Atticus accompanied by the Morrigan have dinner with Odin and Atticus makes a pact to serve in place of the Norse he killed for Ragnarok as well as recruit others for this war against Hell. During the meal Atticus reveals a tale about how be found the recipe for immortality. An assassination attempt on Atticus's life interrupts the meal and after a following pursuit Freyja is found to be responsible for trying to kill Atticus.

With the exception of 2 other authors, I stay away from short stories written in between full length novels. They're never very good and I almost always walk away feeling hosed. They gloss over plot points and just aren't enough to satisfy. Thankfully this one was different. This was pretty good. It gives an explanation as to what happened to Odin after the last book. I was surprised that they recorded an audiobook over what was a 60-ish page short story. Surprised but not disappointed as I am going through Atticus withdrawal. They added the preview of the next book with this as well, I'd heard it before but listening to it again makes November seem like its so far away. Luke Daniels did a nice job. The first few minutes were weird because he was a little too dramatic, but it got better.

There are only two things I would do to make this novella better: make it longer and put in more more more of Oberon ;)Kevin Hearne gives us lots of humor, interesting backstory , and lots of action. Luke Daniels gives us the wonderful voices we fell instantly in love with from the first time we read "Hounded".

Whether this novella is intended as just a filler story, or it merely didn't fit into the next novel, "Trapped", it still provides the kind of fun and inexplicable god behavior Atticus has been dealing with for 2100 years. It has plenty of the Morigan--don't ask her for any favors, trust me--a very Celtic style tale regarding the origins of Eterna-Tea, and a meeting with powerful enemies that probably sets up Atticus' role in the future.

There is too little Oberon--Note to Kevin Hearne: Next time, give us a novella of all Oberon, all of the time, with a few French poodles along the way ;P--but what we did get was classic Atticus/Oberon interaction.

Whether as mere filler or as a bridging short story to explain background information for the next book, Kevin Hearne and Luke Daniels have paired again to give us a fun and fulfilling experience.

For those of us that have been craving more of Atticus and Oberon. I would have loved to seen more of Oberon but we don't have to wait too long for the next installment in the Iron Druid Chronicles. This takes place 6 years into the future from the last book and is a good set up for the next book.

1*=I didn't like it.....
2*=It was OK......
3*=It was good but I will never read it again..........
4*=Maybe I will read it again in the future..............
5*=I will definitely read it again(maybe more than once)

If you could sum up Two Ravens and One Crow in three words, what would they be?

Fun, Adventurous and Outstanding!

What other book might you compare Two Ravens and One Crow to and why?

Kate Daniels series...the interrelation between various worlds, planes, and magic crashing together through thin "walls" where animals, gods and mortals literally clash.

What about Luke Daniels’s performance did you like?

I love the way Luke portrays both Atticus and Oberon's voices/personalities. After hearing him read the Iron Druid books I couldn't imagine any other reader doing them justice.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Many parts of Two Ravens and One Crow made me laugh out loud, and again, much of that is how Luke managed to spin the content. The Morrigan's antics with Atticus were amusing in the extreme...no spoilers here but she tried very hard to play nice....

Any additional comments?

This book is a great continuation of the Iron Druid series and if you haven't read any of these books yet, please, begin now!

Luke Daniels makes the audio version a delightful addition to your collection.Plus, we get to see a surprising side to The Morrigan. And of course, it is Kevin's way to set the pace for the next book . This is a very good short story and you will need to read it as a bridge to the 12 year jump between "Tricked' and 'Trapped'.

Voracious reader/listener: I usually have one ebook and one audiobook going at a the same time. I'm a very eclectic reader so I tend to switch genres after every book. I'm open to most genres but my favorites in audio are mystery and fantasy (epic and urban both).

As 12 years pass between the events in Tricked (Bk 4) and Trapped (Bk 5), this novella is set right in the middle timewise and sets the stage for Ragnarök (the showdown between the Norse gods and some really bad people) and some very interesting alliances between Atticus and some gods. We also learn how Atticus and Granuaile are dealing with their 'working' relationship and some very revealing tidbits about Atticus' past.

I wouldn't say the book was boring but it didn't have excitement of previous books, specially because most of the action occurred during a formal dinner - and we hear descriptions of every course.

Luke Daniels did a bang up job with the narration as usual but I don't know that I'd recommend anybody to pay the current price of this audiobook (which is $9.80 for Audible members.) I think it's a definite must read but I think the ebook will suffice.

But of course, I'm a big fan of this series and I'm sooo looking forward to Trapped. Like the last few books in the series, I'll probably buy the audio the day it comes out